Xcel Energy and Form Energy build iron-air grid battery | News

Xcel Energy is partnering with Form Energy, an energy storage technology company, to build two 10-megawatt iron-air battery demonstration projects: one at the soon-to-be-decommissioned Comanche Power Plant site near Pueblo and another at the also-defunct Sherburne County Power Plant in Becker, Minnesota.

At a meeting in Pueblo on Thursday, Xcel Energy, Form Energy and the Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations announced $4.3 million for planning, permitting and other developments before construction begins on the projects. In May, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst announced a $10 million commitment to Xcel Energy to support the testing project.

Form Energy says its iron-air batteries can provide competitive power for up to 100 hours. According to a press release from Xcel Energy, the batteries will allow Xcel Energy to integrate more low-cost, renewable energy into its system and maintain grid reliability as its coal-fired power plants retire.

Weather-dependent generation resources are inherently intermittent, and that is not good for a power grid that requires stable energy throughout the day and year.

“An unavoidable characteristic of renewable energies such as solar and wind is that they are intermittent, meaning that the sun does not shine 24 hours a day and the wind does not always blow,” said Margaret Larson of OCED. “While shorter durations are currently being installed to support today’s levels of renewable energy production, longer durations are required as more renewables are deployed on the grid. This is a critical part of our strategy to increase renewable energy and improve grid reliability.”

Form’s technology uses rusting iron in a chemical process that releases electrons to generate electricity, providing a power storage that can be regenerated. Form has further developed the technology into a utility-scale solution for intermittent power generation through wind turbines and solar panels.

Most utility-scale battery technologies on the market can only provide four to six hours of energy storage at full rated power. While this is sufficient in some circumstances, recent severe weather events – from heat waves to cold snaps to millennial rains – have impacted the power grid.

Form Energy said the battery bank footprint requires about half an acre of land per megawatt and higher density configurations could deliver more than 3 megawatts per acre. To replace the 1,365 MW capacity of the three Comanche generator units, Units 1, 2 and 3 would require 682 acres of batteries at half an acre per MW or 455 acres at three per MW.

Form Energy officials told the Denver Gazette that their battery system requires one-tenth the area of ​​solar power to produce the same amount of electricity.

Xcel said groundbreaking will occur in early 2025 and the project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2026.

Xcel is hosting a virtual open house using Microsoft Teams in early December.